The Football Coaching Podcast with Joe Daniel

You know how important leadership is to your football team. If you don’t have it, you really know how important leadership is. When coaches are trying to change the path that a program is on, leadership is the first place we look. No one knows that better than Coach Chris Zablocki. Following a string of 9 straight playoff appearances at Cedar Grove-Belgium High School (WI), Coach Zablocki was ready for a new challenge. He found that challenge at Sheboygan North High School (WI). Chris took over in 2015 after the team struggled through a winless season the year before. Changing a culture and turning a program around are not an easy task. But Coach Zablocki has a plan. One he’s used before. In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, you get details about the foundation of Coach Zablocki’s plan to change a football program. And it starts with building leadership. JDFB Insiders will get a much deeper look into Chris Zablocki’s plan for establishing leadership and turning a program around. On April 14, 2016 at 9:00pm Eastern, 6:00pm Pacific, Chris will be presenting an exclusive web clinic for JDFB Insiders. Want to be a part of that event? Click here for all the details on how to become a JDFB Insider right now.

You might not think you can learn much from a soccer guy. We're football coaches. Once you listen to my interview with Coach John O'Sullivan today, you'll realize you were wrong. There's a lot to learn. Of course, John O'Sullivan is much more than a soccer coach. John's website at Changing The Game Project website will tell you that quickly. He is a best selling author and speaker on how coaches and parents can make our sport - any sport - a great experience for the people that matter. Who matters? The players, of course. We lose sight of that. Adults ruin everything. I met John about a year ago. He has studied the single topic that matters the most. How to get your players to perform their best. Schemes don't matter. X's and O's don't matter. Not when your kids are not giving their all. Not when they don't love to play the game. That's what John is all about. In the interview we talk about some really important topics including... How to keep your players from jumping to other sports instead of football How to give your kids more confidence in their ability How to coach when you have lots of kids on different ability levels How to build your program so that parents aren't the problem You'll never eliminate all of the problems, of course. Humans do not allow for problem-free environments. But you can take some serious steps to eliminate the issues. In this episode, we also talk about the upcoming conference on changing your team's culture, July 8-10, 2016 in Boulder, CO. Click here for more information Jump into Episode 154 of The Football Coaching Podcast and listen to my interview with Coach John O'Sullivan, right now!

Coaches like to talk about empowering your players. But when is the right time? What should they have power over? In this episode of The Football Coaching Podcast, we're looking at how much pull your kids should have in the decisions we make. Can they decide when practice starts? When it ends? Should you let your players pick team captains? Do players get to decide where they're going to play? How much input should your players have in play calling decisions? Do the players have any input in playing time? Can your kids help you decide what to do in the weight room? How much should you listen to your players regarding injuries? And do your players get to have a say in the design of your playbook? I'll go over each of these topics and how you should handle player's input on each.

RPO's are the hot topic at clinics all over the country this year. But almost everyone is talking using run-pass options from a Spread formation. So we're bringing in Coach Justin Dottavio for a little JDFB Insider exclusive Web Clinic to talk RPO's in his Pistol Wing-T Offense. Something a little different. Coach Dottavio is the Head Football Coach, among other titles, at Cornerstone Charter Academy in Belle Isle, Florida. At a small school, you need to find the offense that fits your players. Justin and his staff came to the Pistol Wing-T Offense. Then they added in to RPOs. We also talk about the defense, the special teams, and Wrestlemania. Important topics. Want to be a part of Coach Dottavio's Insider Web Clinic on March 15, 2016 at 8:00pm Eastern, 5:00pm Pacific? Click here to become a JDFB Insider now

Putting together your Offensive Playbook for the upcoming season? Here's a checklist. What do you need to have to make sure your playbook is complete for your football team? It's not as easy as it seems. Well you'll need to know how you plan to call your formations. Can you get into all the looks you want to show? And you need to be able to do it easily. Then there's your motions and shifts. Who can you move, where can you move them. Now the important stuff. Your base run play. Nothing is more critical. You'll want a counter play off of that. And a way to get the football in the air with the Play Action Pass off that base run. How about some screens and draws when the Defensive Line is breathing down your neck? Better add those in. Get the ball out to the perimeter with your quick game passing. Then be able to go down the field if you're falling behind (or if that's just what you do). What if the game is on the line and time is running out? Do you have a 2 Minute Offense plan? Don't forget that the field is severely shrunken inside the 5 yard line. What's your special plan on the Goal Line? Finally, your playbook needs a Plan B. And Plan C. Got it? It's all detailed in this week's episode of The Football Coaching Podcast!

I listen to a lot of different podcasts and audiobooks. Usually not about football. But I get a lot of the ideas for The Football Coaching Podcast episodes from those other places. And this episode is a great example. Dan Sullivan and Joe Polish host a podcast for entrepreneurs called the 10x Talk Podcast. It's one I've been listening to a lot, lately. And in that podcast, I heard a great way to categorize our kids. This is all about deciding how to manage your kids. How to work with your kids. Who you need to put more of your energy into, and who you don't. It has nothing to do with talent. It has to do with people. If your kids aren't bringing the energy, the motivation, and the enthusiasm to the game like you need them to, then Episode 150 is for you!

Episode 149 is based on a discussion from our private JDFB Insider forum. Michael asked for advice heading into his first year as a Defensive Coordinator. It sounded like a great topic to me. I sent my own response, flipped through the advice from other coaches, and started making a list. I was shooting for 8 tips for 1st year coordinators. Either side of the ball, let's not limit it. Instead I ended up with 15 before I stopped myself and turned the microphone on. It is Super Bowl Sunday afterall, I don't need to be doing this all day. And here it is. 15 tips for 1st year coordinators. And head coaches. And assistant coaches. OK, these are tips any football coach should probably pay attention to.

Today we're getting a little deep. Some off the field stuff. And I'll travel back to 1937 for some help. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is one of my favorite books. It's not some get rich quick garbage like the title might make it sound. It's a book every football coach should read. Every person, really. We're looking specifically at the 10 Causes of Failure of Leadership from Chapter 6 in the book. This is a book I come back to over and over again, and you should really look into it if you've never read it. Here it is on Amazon. All football coaches are in a leadership role. Whether you are the head coach, coordinator, or position coach, you are leading. We lead other coaches, and more important we lead our players. Pay close attention to these points from many years ago, and see how they fit into your football coaching today.

It's the off season. And the centerpiece of your off season is the weight room. Don't get carried away with X's and O's. That's a lot of fun. But remember one thing... Jimmy's and Joe's matter more. A lot more. And you can make massive improvements for your guys in the weight room this season. A lot more than you can make on paper. So what does it take to run a great weight program? You don't need a ton of equipment. And you don't have to be a full time strength coach. You need to know enough about the lifts to teach them, and teach the lifts safely. Safety is above-all-else the most important aspect of coaching weight training. You've got to have enthusiasm. Believe that the weight room is important. Show your players that. And you need a plan. A path to follow. Where does the off season in the weight room start? What's the end game? How do you get there? Check out this episode for some ideas on building your championship weight room! And click here to join us on January 14, 2016 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT for the Critical Keys To Running A Championship Weight Room Web Clinic.

Defending the Double Wing is always a fun topic. It's a great offense for exposing your defense. The fact is, this is a tough task no matter what you run. It's a great argument against balance. I've been working on our 3-4 Defense eCourse and this is a topic that's sure to come up. So I'm preparing myself. Episode 146 is a collection of my ideas on defending the Double Wing Offense. It's not the end all, not the solution forever. Just ideas. Hopefully it gets your wheels turning as we head into the off-season!